Ten time saving tips

Last week I wrote about the biggest time wasters in the workplace. This week’s blog entry is a follow on and recap from my webinar.

When there are only 24 hours in the day, time seems to be an enemy more than a friend, so wherever possible we need to increase our productivity and effectiveness. Here are my top 10 time saving tips.

1. Time mindset

The first step to getting on top of time pressures is to address your mindset. If you are forever telling yourself that you don’t have enough time, or that there’s too much to do, then your behaviour and emotions will follow that lead. It is so important for your sake and for those around you (particularly if you are in a leadership position) to shift towards a positive problem-solving attitude towards time pressures. So use positive scripts like “I will do it now” and get out of the “Negative Land of W” – wishing, worrying, whining and wasting time. Know yourself and assess your stress levels. Use an app like Rate-Me to monitor “am I stressed?”

1. 2. Flying start 

A lot of people start the day with a coffee or two to get going in the morning. This raises your heart rate, addresses the cravings, makes you feel more alive – but does it really get you moving? It needs to translate into behaviour, so the time-saving equivalent of a cup of coffee is the flying start method. 

This method is as simple as doing five mini-tasks within 15 minutes to start the day. These are very minor tasks – a quick phone call, making an appointment, a tidy up of your desk, paying a bill or two – but once you get rolling with these you will discover some headspace, motivation and enthusiasm to the more challenging tasks ahead.

1. 3. Create smart space 

A cluttered desk is a cluttered mind, and a cluttered mind makes poor use of time. Make an effort to de-clutter your workspace, tidy up your filing system (including your computer files) and you will find your workplace more inviting. You will also save a lot of time, as you will be able to quickly find things you are looking for. Use one lined book for all notes, meetings, etc. Try an app like EVERNOTE to manage your various notes and ideas so they are always there to access. If you want to get organised and stop the clutter follow Peter Walsh.

1. 4. Streamline meetings

Meetings have the potential to rob us of time and energy. Meetings need to be group communication sessions towards a goal. Whether that goal is to make some decisions, brainstorm new ideas or deliver some information to your team.

Your organisation should explore the possibility of alternatives to meetings. Instant messaging software (Yammer, AOL, MSN, etc) can reduce the number of required meetings, and speed up communication, particularly for geographically disperse teams and co-workers.

1. 5. Find shortcuts

Shortcuts are everywhere. It is amazing how much unnecessary effort we expel doing things the long way! A short course or a bit of self-teaching on the software that you regularly use (MS Office, Adobe software, etc) can save you literally hours of the working week. There are many mobile applications that can be time savers – although it does come down to personal taste as an app may seem like a time waster for one person, and a time saver for another.

1. 6. Break procrastination

The first step in breaking procrastination is to become aware of it. Until this happens you are at the mercy of the procrastination drive. Once you are aware of it you need to reset your goals and the list of tasks ahead of you. A common form of procrastination is to do a lot of small unimportant tasks instead of addressing the ominous task that is more important (and more demanding).

This is a subconscious drive towards de-cluttering your workload, and is an important reason why the flying start is such a great way to start the day. It also shows that the larger, ominous task needs to be broken down into more manageable parts – in which you can direct shorter bursts of effort towards. Audit your negative scripts and rewrite them to help you! Visualise completion.

1. 7. Plan and prioritise

Too often we are unrealistic, underprepared and underestimate how long things will take. Stress builds up quickly when we have lots of work thrown at us. Becoming stressed and agitated is a sign that we need to stop, collect our thoughts and revise our priorities. When we are putting most of our effort towards the things that are most important we are infinitely happier and more satisfied with our work. It may require telling some people that you won’t be able to help them. It may require regular conversations with your boss.

Make sure you refocus yourself by asking these questions and hear your own voice:

Q: What is important to me?

Q: What do I want/need/goals?

Q: How much time do I have?

Q: How do I create balance? 

It’s not that we don’t know how to plan or prioritise we just FORGET or IGNORE IT!

1. 8. Best time and best energy

The notion of a morning person is simply someone who is more upbeat and active in the morning than others. Being aware of your peak times of energy is a great way to maximise your effectiveness across the day. Do a time audit for a few days.

Many people experience an energy slump straight after lunch (which may, in part be due to diet), so this may be a good time to do another flying start, or make some calls which is more of a social/interactive task. If you work on your most difficult and demanding tasks when you are at the peak of your powers you will find that you get through much more work.

1. 9. Don’t get caught out

Frantically scrambling to get everything together the night before you travel, or before a presentation, is a stressful approach that leaves us prone to forgetting things, or taking up precious time when time is running out. A great strategy is to have a folder on your desktop called “NEXT” or “COMING SOON” where you quickly drop in everything that relates to an upcoming event. This can include documents, airline tickets, anything at all that is relevant.

You should also be aware of the common ways people are caught out. Carry a spare laptop power cord and a spare battery for your phone. Even a spare tie or shirt can be helpful in case of a food or drink incident!

10. Completion and commitment

There is no point completing work unless you congratulate yourself and enjoy the fact that it is complete. These small doses of satisfaction are ultimately motivating, and from a productivity point of view this a great thing. Commit to managing time effectively.

Eve Ash has developed a wide range of strategies and resources to improve performance and develop a winning mindset (Rewrite Your Life!). Her company Seven Dimensions provides DVDs, online assessment tools and streaming videos to improve individuals, teams and businesses.